posted by Lily on tutorials

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A Christmas Folly in 4 Acts

by Lily Boot

Act 1

In which Miss Lily chooses fabric, draws lines and cuts triangles.

Gather your fabric – I like four individual pieces and a fifth which will be the backing of each of the four. This way you can alternate the triangles, creating a pretty repeating pattern on both sides. The huge and lairy floral on the end is for the binding – because I will cut it into 2 1/2 inch strips which are then folded twice, these gorgeous swirly flowers will not overpower the christmas fabrics because you will only catch glimpses of them.

Cut one 8 inch strip from the full width of each of the four individual pieces.

Draw a straight line parallel to the left selvedge of the wrong side of your 8 inch strip.

Along the bottom edge of the 8 inch strip, measure 3 1/2 inches from the straight line and mark with a dash.

Draw a diagonal line from the top of your straight line to the 3 1/2 inch dash on the bottom edge. Now measure 7 inches from the top of the straight line, mark with a dash, then draw another diagonal line from the 3 1/2 inch dash to the 7 inch dash. You’ve now created your first bunting triangle!

Repeat all the way along the 8 inch strip to the end – I usually get around 11 triangles with a nice bit of leftover at the beginning and end to put in the scrap box.

Of course, you won’t need to bother with marking any more 3 1/2 inch dashes after the first one – you always mark your 7 inch dash from the point of the previous triangle.

Isn’t it just delightful how triangles sit together with such snug economy!

And when you’ve finished making lines – you slice along them! This way and that way and this way and that way – it’s almost like an old fashioned dance as you swish back and forth :-)

Now you are ready to stitch!